Category Archives: US demands on Israel

I try very hard to keep my cool while going through the process of reading many articles each week and deciding which ones are the most relevant for that week’s newsletter. But three pieces posted on Ynet.com this Saturday nearly made me blow a fuse.

The first is ‘Israel must mend regional relations‘. At a speech given to the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “warned Israel against viewing the Arab uprisings rattling the Middle East as an excuse to enter a defensive crouch.”Panetta is encouraging Israel specifically to reach out more to Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. Could it be that Mr. Panetta is deliberately ignoring the fact that Egyptian elections have assured Islamist domination in that country? According to Israel National News The Muslim Brotherhood captured more than 40% of the vote and the hardline Islamist Salafist Nour Party received 20%. According to Middle East expert Dr. David Buk’i, “Israel’s worst fears regarding its relationship with Egypt are coming true before its eyes!”

Second, Panetta exclaimed, “With full confidence that the United States is willing and capable of ensuring that Israel can safeguard its security as it takes the risks needed to pursue peace, now is the time for Israel to take bold action and to move towards a negotiated two-state solution.” Full confidence? With these reassuring words, meant to hold onto the Jewish vote back home, Mr. Panetta is obfuscating the feeble track record of the United States when it come to ensuring Israel’s security in times of crises. As P. David Hornik put it, “There’s an inglorious history of the United States and Europe leaving Israel to fend for itself against threats, sometimes even existential ones.”

Third, demanding that Israel take risks for peace and bold actions is getting old. These ultimatums have been aimed at Israel for years, yet when is the last time that you heard, “the Palestinians must take risks and bold actions for peace”? Could there be a bit of a double standard here?

Finally, Panetta saved some choice language for Israel. Asked specifically what Israel should do first (in taking bold actions), Mr. Panetta replied, “Get to the d★✗✲ table” — that is, return to negotiations. This statement totally defies all logic given that Mahmoud Abbas has done everything in his power to avoid negotiations with Israel including unilaterally going to the UN to secure Palestinian statehood.

The second article also relates to Panetta’s speech at the Saban Center: US cautions Israel against solo military op in Iran. Adrian Blomfield, Jerusalem correspondent for Britain’s Telegraph, reported on a private meeting with Panetta, PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister, Ehud Barak. Panetta said that President Obama demanded an unshakable guarantee that Israel would inform the United States before taking any military action against Iran. In Mr. Blomfield’s words, “The two Israelis were notably evasive in their response, according to sources both in Israel and the United States.” This obviously does not sit well with the Obama administration, but given the existential dangers Israel is now facing, she cannot afford to depend on a “friend” who behaves like an enemy.

The third article is another reality-bender: ‘Jew-hate stems from conflict‘. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of course! Ignoring historic Muslim hatred of Jews which dates all the way back to Muhammed himself, Howard Gutman, American ambassador to Belgium,

Howard Gutman

theorized that, “growing global anti-Semitism is linked to Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians.” He even invented a distinction between what he labels “traditional anti-Semitism” and “Muslim hatred for Jews” which hypothetically stems from the ongoing strife between Israel and the Palestinians. In his view “an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim anti-Semitism.”

Gutman is a lawyer by training, is Jewish and played a major role in fundraising for the Democratic Party. He was appointed to the post by President Obama. It is clear that Mr. Gutman is only parroting the party line of the Obama administration.

The American envoy’s above speech to a group of Jewish lawyers from across Europe was poorly received. The speaker who followed Gutman, German attorney Nathan Gelbart, sharply rebuked the ambassador when he said: “The ‘Israel critic’ will never state ‘Jews go home’ but is questioning the legality of the incorporation of the State of Israel and therefore the right for the Jewish people to settle in their homeland. He will not say the Jews are the evil of the world but claim that the State of Israel is a major cause for instability and war in the region. There is no other country, no other people on this planet the ‘Israel critic’ would dedicate so much time and devotion as to the case of Israel.”

“I try not to pat myself too much on the back, but this administration has done more for the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration,” Obama said. “We don’t compromise when it comes to Israel’s security … and that will continue.”

The only attendees at that event who might have really believed the president’s words are those who get their news exclusively from The New York Times or mainstream network news. The better informed public (like you, dear reader) can draw its own conclusions. I would encourage all of you to view the latest Youtube video from the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Obama – The Anti-Israel President.

You and your administration have relentlessly demanded that we apologize to the various and assorted lunatic dictators and jihadists in our region. Evidently, in your opinion, we are the cause of every conflagration in the Middle East. So here, dear Madame Secretary of State, are our apologies.

To Turkey – Mr. Erdogan, we’re very sorry that we didn’t blow your ship and its peaceful protesters out of the water when it ignored our warnings to stop. Yes, the world would have been furious – but they were furious anyway. And, yes, we would have deprived you of the boat which you are now using as a museum whose goal is to teach new generations of “holy warriors” how noble it is to ambush us, beat us and then die for the sake of Allah. But we would have spared our own boys pain and humiliation and possibly would have cut short the endless investigations and recriminations that followed. In any case, you probably won’t see Israeli soldiers armed with paint ball guns again in the near future.

Hillary, your administration threatened us that it would be difficult for the US to convince other countries to reject Palestinian statehood unless we apologize – so we’ve done it! And in case you’ve forgotten what the real purpose of the flotilla was, here’s a little video to refresh your memory.

To Egypt – We’re sorry that you suffer from uncontrollable Muslim rage and refused to accept our apologies on the death of some of your border police this past Thursday. Actually what we really regret is our somewhat blasé attitude toward your islamist tilt and your possible collusion in the bloody events that unfolded on Route 12 near Eilat. We should have closed that road; that way you (or the terrorists from Gaza who used your territory for their base) wouldn’t have been driven to attack us. It’s all our fault!

Hillary – we know it’s vacation time for most folks, including President Obama, so in case you didn’t notice what happened on Thursday, August 18th: Israel came under a three-pronged attack from Palestinian terrorists from Gaza who infiltrated through Egypt’s Sinai border near the southern port city of Eilat. As a result 8 Israelis were killed: 6 civilians, 1 soldier and 1 police officer. In addition there were at least 40 wounded.

Sorry, we know that numbers are boring, so we’d like to put some faces on those statistics. Consider two sisters, Flora Gaz and Shulamit Karlinsky and their husbands heading to Eilat for a vacation. Their car was hit by an anti-tank missile and then, not satisfied with that, the terrorists approached and finished them off by firing shots into their bodies. The sisters worked in daycare centers for three- and four-year-old children in Kfar Saba. Both were well-known and respected educators. The Gaz family was expecting their first grandchild in three months.

The response of the world to the shedding of Jewish blood? As usual – silence! Israel asked the 15 member United Nations Security Council presently led by Lebanon (aka Hezbollahstan) to condemn the terrorist assault. Lebanon refused the request and demanded that the Israeli draft be amended, for the sake of moral equivalence, to include criticism of Israel’s retaliatory air strikes on Gaza. Since the resolution required a unanimous vote, it failed! Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, responded, “It is no coincidence that Lebanon – the only member of the council that obstructed this statement — is itself dominated by a terrorist organization [Hezbollah]… The silence now echoing from the Security Council Chamber is a sad reminder that the United Nations is too often deaf and blind when it comes to acts of terror committed against the people of Israel.” How about you and your president, Hillary? Are you also deaf and blind or are you purposely acting that way?

Finally – to the US – forgive us for bowing to your pressure to withdraw from Gaza and limit ourselves to politically correct warfare. We know we’ve caused you untold anxiety as you watch (or try to ignore) those poor enraged Palestinians shooting missiles and rockets in our direction because they have no other way to express their frustration. Our civilians with their annoying schools, hospitals and apartments just happen to be in their way. Again – our fault!

But, Hillary, as repulsive as it may be for you, just put yourself in our shoes for a few minutes and imagine what it’s like for us. First for those Israelis who were uprooted from their homes and farms in Gaza for the sake of “peace”. Here’s a child’s view….

Then there are the civilians who live within range of Palestinian rockets. As of this morning (Sunday) over 80 rockets have been fired into Israel affecting cities such as Ofakim, Beer Sheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod. 500,000 people are vulnerable and must take shelter when the air raid sirens go off, some with as little as fifteen seconds to respond to the warning.

Here’s another face for you – Yossi Shoshan, 38, heard the air raid sirens go off and was hurrying to protect his 9-month-pregnant wife. He didn’t make it. He leaves behind a young widow and a son who will never know his father.

One final question for you, Hillary – why is the Obama administration going to great lengths to erase Israel off the White House website? Didn’t hear about it? Check out the article White House Mischief by Daniel Pipes, President of the Middle East Forum. Seems that every former mention of “Jerusalem, Israel” is now simply “Jerusalem”.